


Willing Confession

by Velace



Series: Random Moments [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-21
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 10:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2649365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velace/pseuds/Velace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma gets overwhelmed during family dinner, naturally, Regina follows her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Willing Confession

**Author's Note:**

> I just realised this could have been a 'reverse shot' for What Happiness Means to Me... oh well.

“Miss Swan!”

The voice snapped Emma from her thoughts and before she even knew what she was doing, she slapped at the lock by her head and the dull _thunk_ of every door locking simultaneously echoed in the enclosed space of her car. Maybe it was childish, even stupid considering Regina could easily wave her hand and gain immediate access to the vehicle, but Emma didn’t care.

All she wanted was a few hours of peace and she wasn’t about to give it up willingly, especially not to be yelled at, as Regina’s voice suggested was what was in store for her.

Yes, she had invited the brunette to dinner with her parents, along with Henry and Killian, but that was only because Snow had asked for all of them to be there; Emma had no obligation to stick around and listen to the bizarre camaraderie that had somehow developed between them all. It was bad enough having an ex-boyfriend there for the benefit of her father who had some sort of man crush on the pirate, and that’s ignoring the fact her mother had a weird, delusional hope that they would rekindle their relationship and fall madly in love. In addition to that, Regina and Snow were acting as though they were friends, which would be a good thing if Emma hadn’t lusted after the woman from day one and couldn’t stand to be around her for an extended period of time.

The car unlocked seemingly on its own and a chill entered the interior as a door opened, forcing Emma to yank the blanket wrapped around her up to her neck as she stared at the backseat and tried to pretend Regina wasn’t now within touching distance of her.

“This habit of running from your problems is becoming rather tiresome,” Regina said as the door closed again and Emma grunted the equivalent of a ‘fuck you’ in response, ignoring the frustrated huff that followed.

She closed her eyes and hoped, knowing it was in vain, for the brunette to stop caring about her and leave. Being friends with someone known to be more persistent and hard headed than even she was, was a pain in the ass more often than not and given enough time, Regina was more than capable of prying information from her—whatever means necessary.

“You could have at least run somewhere warm,” Regina murmured after a few minutes of silence.

The soft clicking that succeeded the words had Emma sitting up suddenly and she regretted the move as her head slammed against the roof of the car, pulling a colourful string of vulgarity from her lips. Holding a hand to the top of her head, she ignored the snicker as she reached over the console and smacked an olive hand away from the buttons there.

“If the heat worked, I would have turned it on,” she grumbled and snatched the keys from the ignition.

Shoving the passenger seat forward, she grabbed the blanket that had fallen to the floor and bolted from the car, wrapping it around her form as she stormed over to one of the benches along the dock. All she could think of was how her car would smell like Regina for the next month, the scent having overwhelmed her to the point where freezing to death was preferable to tolerating apples and cinnamon invading her nostrils every time she breathed.

Less than a minute later, as she glared out over the water, the sound of heels clicking against the pavement met her ears before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was about to ask Regina what the hell she was doing, when she felt nails sink into her flesh and a cloud of purple smoke engulfed them.

When it cleared, she found herself inside the mansion—seated in the study, to be more precise—and she groaned. Regina released her grip and Emma curled in on herself, pulling her legs up to her chest as she toppled to the side, head resting against the arm of the sofa while she watched the brunette saunter over to the fireplace where she kept an almost full decanter of cider.

“I cannot even begin to guess what problem it is you have today,” Regina began as she poured them each a glass, “but I will not sit idly by while you attempt to catch pneumonia and die, merely to escape it.”

“Dramatic much,” Emma mumbled, tucking a stray curl behind her ear as she tracked Regina’s every movement. “I miss the old days where you were more encouraging of that sort of the thing.”

An eyebrow arched, expression wholly unimpressed as Regina set a glass down on the table in front of the blonde. “Even then, I would not have allowed such a thing.”

Emma scoffed, fully expecting the usual excuse of their son being the reason behind Regina’s claim, but even as the brunette took a seat across from her, the excuse never came and Emma couldn’t help the frown that creased her forehead. As the silence prevailed, she released a frustrated sigh and gave in to the challenge presented by the small quirk of plump lips.

“Why not?” she asked, not bothering to keep the irritation from her voice, which only served to push the smirk into a full-blown grin that annoyed her to no end.

“I suppose the simplest, expected reason would be some nonsense regarding our son.” Emerald eyes rolled as she sipped her drink. Regina ignored the blonde and continued, “However, that would be small in comparison to the considerable number of other reasons I have.”

Blinking stupidly, it took Emma a moment to recover from her surprise before she prompted, “Such as?”

Leaning forward, Regina placed her glass upon the table. She leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs, dark eyes studying the woman curled on her sofa, looking sufficiently adorable bundled up beneath that hideous blanket. “I may not regret my past, but I have my fair share of guilt over the actions I felt forced to take—so there is the very clear fact that I possess a conscience…”

Emma knew she wasn’t finished, so she waited and another minute passed before Regina spoke again. “Do you know how easy it would have been for me to rid myself of you if I had truly wanted to? I could have used what little magic I had to erase your memories, planted false ones and either sent you back across the line or integrated you into my curse.”

“Rumple wouldn’t have allowed that,” Emma replied as she pushed up from sofa and reached for her cider. By now, everyone was aware of who the mastermind behind the curse was, the reason it had been cast and the price Regina had paid to enact it. She shucked her blanket as the warmth from the fire started to seep into her bones and let the hypothetical example roll over in her mind.

“True,” Regina agreed, “but he would have had to kill you in order to break the curse himself. Even if you and Henry shared True Love from the start, a kiss wouldn’t work without your memories and without magic himself, I would place my bet on you winning a physical altercation.”

Emma sighed, folding her legs as she cradled the glass in her hands. “Ignoring the fact guns exist and the reality that he could have entered Mary Margaret’s apartment at will and murdered me in my sleep—that isn’t the reason you were referring to.”

Regina smiled. “No, that isn’t the reason,” she admitted with a shake of her head. “You challenged me, Miss Swan. For twenty-eight years, I was the one who ended up cursed—cursed to remember, to live in this land with the people I despised most. I thought taking their memories, their happiness from them would change things for the better, but it only made everything that much worse. As unhappy, as _alone_ as I was in the Enchanted Forest, it was nothing compared to the life I had here.”

Intrigued by the confession, Emma quickly swallowed her cider, grimacing at the slight burn of it going down her throat, but otherwise unaffected as she set her glass back down. “I changed that,” she said—not a question, but not quite a statement either. She was unsure if she had understood correctly, though couldn’t help the somewhat hopeful sound of her voice.

Brunette locks bobbed, dark red lips pursing as Regina looked thoughtfully upon her. “Henry had come first, of course,” she eventually said and Emma mimicked the nod. “You were an unexpected surprise, one that I was quick to discover could be rather pleasant, if I allowed it. As much as I enjoy our… friendship in its current state, I sometimes find myself remembering our first few months of getting to know one another. I thought you’d realise you were out of your depth, that you would turn out like everyone else and simply either learn to avoid me, or fear me—become complacent.”

Emma chuckled, lips quirking with a lop-sided grin. “So basically, you’re saying you would have saved me, even back then, if only to have a worthwhile partner to verbally spar with?” At the second nod, Emma tilted her head curiously and asked softly, “And now?”

“And now,” Regina started, but stopped, expression thoughtful once more as she contemplated the question. She smiled, realising that at some point, the truth would come out and at least if she confessed in that moment, it would be under her terms.

“And now,” she repeated, decision made. “I am so deeply in love with you that I wouldn’t know what to do if I had to live my life without you in it.”


End file.
